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I just found out a 'customer' is drop shipping my product

Veloman

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On Amazon. He copied all the text and pics from my eBay listing.

I know I should get my listing on Amazon. Is there anything else I can do?
....Updating this as I've just decided to get listed on Amazon and compete with him there.
 
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Rabby

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What's the problem? You're making a sale at the price you agreed to right?
 

Veloman

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Yes that is true. But of course I want to squash this. Just curious about the best way to do that. I've been meaning to list on Amazon, so I guess this is going to force me now. The drop shipper is getting like 70% more $ for it.
 

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On Amazon. He copied all the text and pics from my eBay listing.

I know I should get my listing on Amazon. Is there anything else I can do? Should I block his eBay account from purchasing from me? He's asked me to not include an invoice in the shipment. But now I know, so I don't care.

Is he using your brand in the title or description? Is your brand trademarked, copyrighted, patented etc?
 
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EricFromCanada

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Yes that is true. But of course I want to squash this. Just curious about the best way to do that. I've been meaning to list on Amazon, so I guess this is going to force me now. The drop shipper is getting like 70% more $ for it.
Why not just increase the pricing on your eBay listing to better match what he priced the product on Amazon for? If you know people are willing to pay at that price and it would just cut into his profit margin.
 

Veloman

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Is he using your brand in the title or description? Is your brand trademarked, copyrighted, patented etc?

No. I don't have it branded, trademarked or copyrighted. I know..... it's not a big time product, haven't gone that far with it.
 

Rabby

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I'm curious about your desire to "squash" it though. Do you feel like you lost something? This person gave you money, the amount of money you asked them for. If they benefit, how is it your loss.

You can raise your price if you want. You can list on Amazon if you want. Why hold animosity though? You have a customer who is teaching you something about pricing, and teaching you that you can be a wholesaler and a reseller. I would send them chocolates, and think about whether I wanted to do all the marketing, or have them do it and just supply them.
 
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Veloman

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Why not just increase the pricing on your eBay listing to better match what he priced the product on Amazon for? If you know people are willing to pay at that price and it would just cut into his profit margin.

That would work, but I have one competitor on ebay, so I need to stay around that price.
 

Veloman

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I'm curious about your desire to "squash" it though. Do you feel like you lost something? This person gave you money, the amount of money you asked them for. If they benefit, how is it your loss.

You can raise your price if you want. You can list on Amazon if you want. Why hold animosity though? You have a customer who is teaching you something about pricing, and teaching you that you can be a wholesaler and a reseller. I would send them chocolates, and think about whether I wanted to do all the marketing, or have them do it and just supply them.

I agree, I'm not 'losing'. It's good to have the sales. I did read that he is going against Amazon's policy though, buy purchasing from another retail (who ships) to drop ship.

It's really just a kick in the butt to get on Amazon like I've been telling myself.
 

EricFromCanada

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That would work, but I have one competitor on ebay, so I need to stay around that price.
If possible, why not value skew the attributes of your product so much so that people are willing to pay extra for your product over your competitors?
 
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Kak

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Control of brand perception can be an issue here.

Other than that, I agree with the folks before me. He gave you the money you agreed to sell for. It becomes his item to do with what he wants to. Now, it sounds like he only did it once. Is this something to get worked up over? Nah.

Get on Amazon and put him out of business because he has a lame unsustainable business model.
 

Veloman

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If possible, why not value skew the attributes of your product so much so that people are willing to pay extra for your product over your competitors?

I've made it very clear to buyers on ebay that my product is superior (which is the truth), yet my competitor still gets a similar number of sales. It is annoying when there are days I have no sales and he gets a few.

The drop shipping guy has done this 4 times now. I am setting up my Amazon account now. So this will be a good thing - forced me to take action.
 

Kak

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I've made it very clear to buyers on ebay that my product is superior

Every seller is myopic in favor of their own offerings. The customers will hear the same thing from every other seller.
 
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minivanman

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I see it as great business by him and laziness by you. I guess I have a question, since you set your price at x, why do you want to lose his sales? Apparently you are making money so why mess that up? Personally, I see it as different avenues of business. Why not just continue what you have with him and you get your @ss in gear to run your own business and not worry about him? You will never control 100% of the customers for that product, as you have seen on Ebay. You tell the potential customers on Ebay that your product is superior to your competitor yet they still buy from your competitor...... that's what you said. So, sell to him wholesale and you sell for your own self retail..... sounds great to me! What's mine is mine and what's yours is part mine ......is how you should look at it.
 

Veloman

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I see it as great business by him and laziness by you. I guess I have a question, since you set your price at x, why do you want to lose his sales? Apparently you are making money so why mess that up? Personally, I see it as different avenues of business. Why not just continue what you have with him and you get your @ss in gear to run your own business and not worry about him? You will never control 100% of the customers for that product, as you have seen on Ebay. You tell the potential customers on Ebay that your product is superior to your competitor yet they still buy from your competitor...... that's what you said. So, sell to him wholesale and you sell for your own self retail..... sounds great to me! What's mine is mine and what's yours is part mine ......is how you should look at it.

Well, I want as much of the market as I can get. I acknowledge that I was lazy and should have been listed on Amazon a while ago. I saw this coming. Good on him for seeing that opportunity, but it's not going to last. Once I'm listed on Amazon, he either won't get sales, or his profit margin will dwindle as we compete on price.
 

minivanman

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He will still get sales. All you will end up doing is ripping yourself off. The other guy on ebay that you say has a lesser product than you gets sales so what makes you think this guy won't get any? That's just not how the world works. I'll tell you the 1st thing I ever sold on Amazon.... a leather cigarette lighter case. There were several for $9.99 so my friend Ken and I were playing and we put it on for $29.99.... sold in 3 days. lmao We actually didn't think it would sell at all.... it did....

It seems as though you are butt hurt and want to blame him. He has done 0 wrong..... except be a customer of yours apparently. Just being truthful.
 
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biophase

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Has he made any sales on Amazon from you?

What I would do is order from amazon and then make your eBay listing out of stock so he can’t fulfill it. But since you aren’t branded he would probably just order from your competitor.
 

Dan_Cardone

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Sounds like a potiental partnership.

Combine money and negotiate better a better deal with your supplier so that you both can make more profit.

Also, being in the commodity business sucks. Find a way to make your product seem unique so that price isn't as big of a concern. When comparing your product to your competitiors it needs to be an apples-to-oranges comparison.
 

Dan_Fastlane

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if you know who it is, dont take any order from him anymore??
 
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Rabby

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Every seller is myopic in favor of their own offerings. The customers will hear the same thing from every other seller.

Yes, this, and also when someone says they've made something "very clear" to the buyers, they're fooling themselves.

You can communicate certain things to buyers who actually read your copy.

Those things might or might not be what the particular buyer cares about.

Your paper is stronger? I just want the cheapest paper. Your car goes faster? I prefer gas mileage and space for kids.

There's never one answer for a product - people will think it is superior for their purposes, or not, depending on what they believe about your product.
 
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illmasterj

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Have you considered approaching him to ask if he is interested in selling your product on other platforms? Maybe you can provide him a 10% of code?

You can focus on branding your product, buy in larger volumes from your manufacturer at better rates (and therefore make a larger margin on your ebay sales), then pursue other resellers, or maybe get your product into Walmart, Costco, etc retail stores.
 
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Veloman

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I appreciate the replies here.

I am a little surprised that some here don't seem to be as competitive as I thought. I'm not sure why anyone would be content to let their product be sold for significantly more on a different platform, when they could be listed there as well.
 

Rabby

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I appreciate the replies here.

I am a little surprised that some here don't seem to be as competitive as I thought. I'm not sure why anyone would be content to let their product be sold for significantly more on a different platform, when they could be listed there as well.

At the core of being competitive is knowing what's in your own best interest, and when you're winning, and when you're shooting yourself in the foot.

It's not as simple as reacting to make someone else get less, because markets are not zero sum. That reaction is defensive, zero sum thinking. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it is appropriate, but it's not the definition of competition. You can compete by collaborating better. By changing your product. By doing less work for the same reward. You can compete by paying your employees more and getting the best talent. Competition isn't just reacting when you find out someone got more. It's optimizing your benefit, and that starts by knowing when and how you benefit or lose. That's the point.

I might very well list my product on amazon too. I just wouldn't be alarmed that someone took that risk for me and showed me that they can sell my product for a multiple of what I'm selling it for. Maybe I would send them cookies out of gratitude.
 

Walter Hay

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Yes, this, and also when someone says they've made something "very clear" to the buyers, they're fooling themselves.

You can communicate certain things to buyers who actually read your copy.

Those things might or might not be what the particular buyer cares about.

Your paper is stronger? I just want the cheapest paper. Your car goes faster? I prefer gas mileage and space for kids.

There's never one answer for a product - people will think it is superior for their purposes, or not, depending on what they believe about your product.
@Veloman, You need to start thinking about what your customers are thinking. @Rabby has hit the nail on the head. I have bolded the most significant part of his post.

Walter
 
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biophase

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I appreciate the replies here.

I am a little surprised that some here don't seem to be as competitive as I thought. I'm not sure why anyone would be content to let their product be sold for significantly more on a different platform, when they could be listed there as well.

Well that was the first question in my head since you were the person that wasn't on Amazon. Listing directly on Amazon was a no brainer.

The second reason was that you weren't selling a branded product on Ebay. So how do you even know he's dropshipping your product. He could be ordering it from China or someone else once he got the sale.

Nobody was competitive in their responses because you didn't have anything to protect. Basically someone stole your content and photos, but not your brand or product. So what did you really have to protect?
 

Andy Bell

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I don't get why you think someone making sales for you is a bad thing. Sounds like your jealous he's making more money in commissions than you are selling the actual product. This happens in plenty of businesses, hell just step into any jewelry store some of them are trying to markup 1000%.

If its really bothering you that much just start selling on Amazon, to be honest having your product off amazon in this day and age is the bigger headscratcher here.

My friend's online store dropships a $5 product from china for $30, his supplier knows it and he's over the moon with the extra sales he's getting.
 
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biophase

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BTW, I have this issue on Amazon all the time. When my product runs out of stock on Amazon, a 3rd party will list under it for $10 more. Then when they get a sale, they will go purchase my product from Walmart, Chewy, or my website and ship it to whoever.

This isn't good for me because the person is buying my product at an inflated price. My $15 product should not cost $30. Sometimes I get emails asking why my product is so expensive now when it used to be $15.

So I shut these 3rd party sellers down pretty quickly by purchasing the product and then purposely not fulfilling their order when it comes through.
 

Tourmaline

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So I shut these 3rd party sellers down pretty quickly by purchasing the product and then purposely not fulfilling their order when it comes through.

That's quite crafty!
 

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